Evermotion has announced its first collection of 10 architectural scenes for Blender and Cycles. Thought Evrmotion acknowledge that 3DS Max remains the industry stalwart (and that is not likely to change soon), the release could be seen as evidence that more archviz artists are considering viable alternatives to their existing tried and tested software. The collection is scheduled for 27 March but can be pre-ordered now for €90. Find out more about the release on the Evermotion website.

Quixel's CEO Teddy Bergsman has released a short preview video of the company's upcoming Mixer application that will enable users to create new maps by combining, blending, and manipulating scanned textures from its library. The tool will be a part of the subscriber package with no additional charge. Watch it on YouTube along with a longer video message from Teddy about the broader Quixel roadmap.

Allegorithmic has announced a new version of its procedural material creation tool Substance Designer. The Spring update includes several features aimed at the needs of the VFX industry including a new UDIMs workflow that includes the following features:(more...)

Nevercenter has released an update to Silo, continuing the recent rekindled development of its inexpensive modelling tool. Silo 2.5.3 adds several new designer-focused features, including tools for creating 3D text, PSD support for texturing, viewport reference and more as well as the ability to update image files automatically if they are modified outside Silo. Silo normally costs $129 but there's currently a discount of $30 using the coupon code SILOSALE. Find out more about the new features on the developer's blog

Rohan Dalvi has released a two multi-part commercial courses explaining how to use Houdini's procedural tools to model ornamental patterns. Over 15 videos totalling about 4.5 hours of training he explains how to use typical procedural modelling approaches, L-systems and Voronoi fractures to create a variety of patterns that can be used to decorate architectural or fantasy objects. Each course currently costs $22 each or $40 for the pair. Find out more on Rohan's website.